MSNBC — With the Help of Rachel Maddow — Ratings Lead to Blood

This is a time in the history of our nation when an honest group or congressional panel with integrity could name and ostracize extremists on both the right and left. Unfortunately, the media have crowned the misnamed Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as the arbiter of what’s good and right in America today. Ironically, it was the SPLC that inspired an act of terrorism on American soil, when a gay militant opened fire on the Washington office of the Family Research Council. He saw the group listed on an SPLC “hate map.”

Now we learn that James Hodgkinson, the gunman who shot House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and three other people on Wednesday, had “liked” the Southern Poverty Law Center on Facebook.

Isn’t it fascinating how a group that is regularly portrayed by the media as an expert on “extremists” is at the center of two terrorist incidents in the Washington, D.C. area?

It doesn’t really matter that the SPLC has denounced the Hodgkinson attack. What matters is that the media should stop using the SPLC as a resource for statements about the supposed extremism of groups other than the SPLC.

The pattern is clear. Those consumed with hatred of conservatives, or motivated by Marxism, are going to the SPLC for inspiration. Like the gay militant Floyd Corkins before him, James Hodgkinson probably used his computer to search the SPLC website and gather “intelligence” on his political enemies.

The SPLC is a despicable organization that in the past has been used as a resource by the Department of Justice and the FBI. Let’s hope those days are over. But considering the turmoil in the department, we really have no way of knowing.

The FBI could, and should, issue a statement noting the role of the SPLC in the climate of violence gripping the United States. Perhaps that might have a salutary effect on this organization.

However, at this point, the FBI is still reportedly searching for a motive behind the Hodgkinson shooting spree. The FBI is even circulating a flier declaring him “deceased”and asking the public to call the FBI hotline if they have information about what Hodgkinson has been doing in the D.C. area over the past several months.

The FBI says, “James T. Hodgkinson, deceased, is believed to be responsible for the shooting in the 400 Block of E. Monroe Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia, around 7:09 a.m. on June 14, 2017. The FBI is asking for the public’s assistance with any information regarding Hodgkinson.”

This is bureaucratic gobbledygook. An online dictionary defines gobbledygook as “language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of abstruse technical terms; nonsense.”

This is an even simpler case to solve than the anthrax letters case, in which the FBI investigators could see on the envelopes the phrases “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” Still, then-FBI Director Robert Mueller blew that case, blaming American scientists for terrorism carried out by al Qaeda.

In the Hodgkinson case, we have pictures of him marching against the rich and glorifying Bernie Sanders. We have his Facebook posts devoted to liberal causes like global warming, “likes” of various far-left groups like the SPLC, and an addiction to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show, which has been obsessed with Donald Trump and Russia. Hodgkinson swallowed it hook, line, and sinker, concluding that Trump and other Republicans had to be “terminated” for treason.

“One of my favorite TV shows is ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ on MSNBC,” he said in a letter to the local paper. “On a recent show she stated that 17 very rich men are supplying the Republican Party with more than 60 percent of their campaign contributions.”

Still, the FBI is searching for a motive. We understand the motive. What we need to understand is the Marxist theory of hatred and class warfare that is being promoted by news organizations like MSNBC, and which drives somebody like Hodgkinson to kill.

Like the Islamic terrorists identified by President Trump as losers, Hodgkinson was a loser, too. A typical liberal motivated by Marxist jargon, he had employment and personal problems that he blamed on the rich.

But Hodgkinson was not a loner. He was a proud liberal who openly proclaimed his hatred on the Internet, and belonged to or liked a whole network of left-wing organizations. He had a support apparatus that still exists and which may currently be producing more would-be shooters.

Will MSNBC rein in Maddow’s ranting and raving against Trump and the Republicans? Not likely. Her ratings are too high. The market for left-wing hate is growing. She’s making too much money for the channel. More money, not less, stands to be made by stoking the fires of hatred.

As for the SPLC, it says, “We’re aware that the SPLC was among hundreds of groups that the man identified as the shooter ‘liked’ on Facebook. I want to be as clear as I can possibly be: The SPLC condemns all forms of violence. We have worked for decades to combat domestic terrorism and violence based on hate.”

Author

Cliff Kincaid is Director of the AIM (Accuracy in Media) Center for Investigative Journalism. A veteran journalist and media critic, he writes frequent columns and special reports, is the author of several books including “The Death of Talk Radio?” and has appeared on The Today Show, Hannity & Colmes, The O’Reilly Factor, The CBS Evening News, Lou Dobbs Tonight, The Glenn Beck Show and many more radio and television programs.

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